Tryptophan as a probe of photosystem I electron transfer reactions: a UV resonance Raman study.

ABSTRACT: Photosystem I (PSI) is one of the two membrane-associated reaction centers involved in oxygenic photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, solar energy is converted to chemical energy in the form of a transmembrane charge separation. PSI oxidizes cytochrome c(6) or plastocyanin and reduces ferredoxin. In cyanobacterial PSI, there are 10 tryptophan residues with indole side chains located less than 10 A from the electron transfer cofactors. In this study, we apply pump-probe difference UV resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy to acquire the spectrum of aromatic amino acids in cyanobacterial PSI. This UVRR technique allows the use of the tryptophan vibrational spectrum as a reporter for structural changes, which are linked to PSI electron transfer reactions. Our results show that photo-oxidation of th

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2846372 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature